Sentencing for former Warren auditor Anthony Natale reset

YOUNGSTOWN – Sentencing for the former Warren city auditor, which was scheduled for today, has been reset for 3 p.m. Oct. 11 by federal Judge Benita Y. Pearson.

Anthony J. Natale, 37, could receive up to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty in June to one count of conveying false information related to the use of a weapons of mass destruction.

The federal conviction cost Natale his job as auditor less than six months into his four-year term.

Natale’s attorney, J. Gerald Ingram, filed a motion Monday asking Pearson to reschedule sentencing because his client had begun receiving treatment at PsyCare. Ingram told the judge he has not been able to obtain additional medical records regarding the new program.

Natale had pleaded guilty after prosecutors said their case would have presented scientific evidence linking Natale’s DNA to the envelope in which the powder was mailed to his former employer in Youngstown four days after Natale was fired in October 2014.

Prosecutors said the action caused a scare in this post 9/11 era that not only affected those working in the American Business Center offices on South Avenue, but also the offices of neighboring businesses. Several closed for two days while authorities identified whether the powder was lethal.

Natale, during the plea hearing, admitted to sending the powder because he was hurt and angry.

During the June hearing, U.S. Attorney Justin S. Gould said in addition to a prison sentence, Natale also could receive three years of supervised release; $250,000 in fines and ordered to pay restitution for the cost local and state agencies spent in the investigation of the case. Gould said the recommended range for the crime is between 21 months and 27 months in prison, but Pearson has some discretion in sentencing.

In a sentencing memorandum filed Friday, Ingram asked the judge to give his client probation with home detention and participation in mental health treatment as conditions.